Power lawn mower and vacuum collecting means



Feb. 26, 1935. w GEDNEY 1,992,820

POWER LAWN MOWER AND VACUUM COLLECTING MEANS Filed Jan 3, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet l AT ORNEY- Feb. 26, 1935. w EDNEY 1,992,820

POWER LAWN MOWER AND VACUUM COLLECTING MEANS Filed Jan. 3, 19:53 2Shets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR- Patented Feb. 26, 1935 PATENT OFFICE rowan LAWNMOWER AND VACUUM COLLECTING MEANS Walter Gedney, Newburgh, N. Y.,assignor of one-half to N. Y.

William J. Hogarth, Newburgh,

Application January 3, 1933, Serial No. 649,846

4 Claims. (Cl. 5823) My invention relates to an improvement in thecombination of a power lawn mower and vacuum collecting means and itsnovelty consists in the combination, adaptation and arrangement of partsas will be more fully hereinafter pointed out.

In mowing fine lawns and putting greens of golf links it is a constantproblem to keep the turf clean so that the cut grass, dead leaves andother waste matter peculiar to lawns should not be matted into androlled into the lawn as the lawn is cut by a mower. This problem isparticularly acute with respect to the use of a power lawn mower whichis very much heavier than the ordinary lawn mower and in which thedriving roller or rollers are required to smooth out and tamp the lawnat the same time that the mower goes over it for the purpose of cuttingthe grass.

My device solves this problem, furnishing a machine which by power isadapted to cut the lawn in a perfect manner and gather in a suctioncleaning device the cut grass, dead leaves and other waste matter foundon lawns so that when the roller passes over the clipped lawn it willfind an absolutely clean lawn which can properly be rolled and tamped toan absolutely smooth condition free of any matter except the turf. Thissolution of this problem is of unusual importance in view of theconstantly increasing number of large golf links, parks and fine privateestates where the tremendous area of turf to be kept in conditionrequires the use of a power lawn mower to cut it at least twice a week,as this is essential in keeping the turf in a healthy growing properlytrimmed condition.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of my completedevice looking at it from the right hand side as the operator standsoperating it from the handles as shown.

Figure 2 is a side elevation looking at the same device from the lefthand side and showing only the front portion with the vacuum nozzle inposition to collect the grass as it is cut.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of my device as shown in Figure 1 andshowing the vacuum nozzle in dotted outline in the position shown inFigure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail of the driving mechanism for the suction fan withthe rest of the device broken away for convenience in illustration.

In the drawings 10 is the main frame in which is mounted on taperedroller bearings in the usual way at 11 a pair of driving rollers 12 andwhich are driven by means of a gasoline motor 13 of usual constructionand in the usual and well known manner, but the detail of which is notshown herein. A pair of bars 9 are rigidly secured to each side of theframe 10 and terminate at their upper ends in handle bars 8 and have atie rod 7 connecting them together.

A free floating cutting unit 14 is pivoted on said frame 10 at 15 andhas a roller 16 at one end rotatably mounted therein at 17 in the usualmanner and is supported at the opposite end by a pair of wheels 18rotatably mounted in the usual manner at 19 on castors 20. The six bladerevolving cutter 21 is also mounted on its central shaft at 15 andthrough sprocket gear 22 rigidly connected thereto said cutter 21 isrotated by means of chain 23 which runs over sprocket gear 24 which ismounted over shaft 25 of the motor 13 on which shaft 25 is also mounteda fly wheel 26 and pulley gear 27 so that it also rotates with saidshaft 25.

Bevel gear 28 mounted on shaft 29 which is mounted in frame 30 and whichis rigidly secured on frame 10 is connected through clutch 31 of usualplate clutch construction, transfers by meshing with pulley gear 27, themotion from said fly wheel 26 to suction fan 32. A subframe 33 ismounted over said shaft 29 and is secured at 35 to a suction fan box 34which contains said suction fan 32. A spring 36 is mounted over theshaft 29 adjacent to said suction fan box 34 and is adapted to maintainthe clutch plates 31 in engagement except as they are disengaged by thelever 37 pivoted at 38 and connected at 39 by rod 40, which motion istransferred through bell crank lever 41 pivoted at 42 on tie rod '7' andhaving a rod 43 connected at 44 running through a spacer member 6 whichis rigidly mounted between the upper ends of bars 9 and handle bars 8and having a handle 45 rigidly secured thereto. By pushing the handle 45downwardly the motion will be transferred through rod 43, bell cranklever 41 thereby pushing rod so that the lever 37 pivoted at 38 ispushed backwardly whereby through passing between the flanges 46 of oneof the clutch plates of the clutch 31 mounted on the shaft 29 the spring36 will thereby be compressed and separate the clutch plates of theclutch 31.

Flexible tubing 4'7 is connected to the suction fan box 34 in the usualwell known manner and has a suction nozzle 48 with a suction slot 49 ofusual construction and the suction nozzle 48 has hooks 50 rigidlysecured thereto which are adapted to be hooked over the tie rod 51 ofthe full floating cutting unit 14.

A pulley 52 is mounted on shaft 25 over which a belt 53 transfers thepower to a smaller pulley 54 mounted on a shaft on the other end ofwhich is mounted a fan 56 of usual construction to cool the water in theradiator 57 from the motor 13 in the usual well known manner. A tank 58is mounted on the bars 9 and tie rod 7 in the usual well known mannerand is adapted to be filled with gasoline to feed the motor 13.

A chute 58 is directly connected through the fan box 34 at 59 so as toconnect with the inside of the suction fan box 34 to receive thematerial collected therein by the fan 32 and this ends at its upper endin a circular flanged mouth to which is adapted to be secured a bag orother receptacle to receive the leaves, grass and other waste matterpicked up by the suction fan 32. Such bags when sufliciently full can bereadily tied at their tops and removed from said mouth 60 and a new bagsecured thereto. In this way the operator can cover a tremendous arealeaving the tied up bags only to be gathered later containing the grass,leaves and other waste matter.

The vacuum nozzle 48 is shown in Figures 1 and 3 suspended by the hooks50 over the tie rod 51. In Figure 2 and in dotted outline in Figure 3the vacuum nozzle 48 is suspended by the hooks 50 over the U rod 61which is supported in its upright position rigidly on the frame 10 at 62so that the suction slot 49 is immediately above the blades of therevolving cutter 21 whereby it will suck up the grass as it is cutthrough the slot 49, nozzle 48, flexible pipe 4'7, into the fan box 34and the suction fan 32, thence through the chute 58, mouth 60 into thebag secured thereto but which is not shown herein.

As the full floating cutting unit 14 maintains the revolving cutter 21at a uniform distance from the ground under any and all conditionswhether the mower be going up or down hill or on uneven ground, so alsowill the nozzle 48 and the slot 49 be maintained at a uniform distancefrom the ground under any and all conditions as it is supported on thecutting unit 14 on the tie rod. 51.

It will be understood that this complete power lawn mower has the usualspeed control means for low, medium and high speed in driving thedriving rollers 12 controlled in the usual well known manner on thehandles 8 but not shown herein in order to avoid confusion inillustration.

In operating my device when the motor has been set in operation, theclutch 31 being disengaged by means of pressing down on the handle 45which through rod 43, bell crank lever 41, rod 40, connection 39 to therod 37 pivoted at 38, said rod 3'7 passing between the flanges 46 willpull one of the clutch plates 31 away from the other clutch plate 31thereby cutting off the transfer of the power coming through pulley gear2'7, bevel gear 28, shaft 29 and the first clutch plate 31. As the powerlawn mower is run on to turf where it is desired to use the vacuumcollecting means the lever 41 will be pulled upwardly whereby the spring36 will thrust against the clutch plate 31 to reestablish the operationof the complete shaft 29 and the vacuum fan 32 whereby the suctionestablished through pipe 47 and the nozzle 48 at the slot 49 will drawin leaves, grass or other waste matter, then carrying it up throughnozzle 48,

' pipe 47 into the suction fan 32 which will blow it out through thechute 58' to the container secured to the mouth 60. It will be founddesirable to throw out the cutch 31 as described when the power lawnmower and vacuum collecting means are passing over gravel or other dirtor crushed stone ground before passing on to the turf which is to be cutand cleaned, as otherwise sand, stone and loose dirt which is notdesired will be gathered up by the vacuum collecting means.

When only the grass being cut is desired to be taken up by the vacuumcollecting means, the nozzle 47 is suspended on the U rod 61 so that theslot 49 will be immediately adjacent to the revolving blades of thecutter 21 so as to draw in all of the grass as rapidly as it is cutthereby leaving the lawn and turf free of any cut grass as my device isrun over the same.

It will be apparent that through the usual clutch control, not shownherein, the driving connections to the cutter 21 may be disconnectedwhen the vacuum nozzle 48 is in the position as shown in Figures 1 and 3when it may be desired to only collect the leaves, dead grass or otherwaste matter on the turf in the spring and fall when it is not necessaryto cut the grass at the same time.

All of the advantages of the usual power lawn mower are found in mydevice enabling the operator to give his attention entirely to directingthe machine along the exact path desired without having to put anyeffort into pushing the machine which is driven of its own power, andthe cutter 21 also being rotated by means of the same power so that themachine will travel uniformly securing the best possible cuttingresults.

To all of these advantages must be added the unusual advantage of havingthe exact path over which the cutter is to pass absolutely clean and thegrass which may have been blown over or matted down slightly throughwind or rain or other cause, pulled up to its full standing position bythe vacuum of the nozzle 48 through the operation of the suction fan 32as described so that the cutter 21 has uniform free standing grass toout whereby the uniformity of the cutting will be tremendously increasedover what has been possible heretofore.

My device is adapted to be combined with any of the standard makes ofpower lawn mowers and the particular means shown is only indicative ofmany variations which may be made therein without departing from thespirit and intent of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a power lawn mower having a power motor unit and a free floatingcutter unit pivoted thereon, the latter carrying a revolving cutterdriven from the shaft of the motor of said power unit, vacuum means forcollecting leaves, grass and other waste matter in advance of thecutting operation comprising a starting pulley with gear attached,secured to the fly wheel of the power motor, a gear on the outer end ofthe shaft of said vacuum means meshing with said pulley gear and asuction fan on the opposite end of said shaft to which is connected avacuum nozzle by a flexible pipe connection.

2. In a power lawn mower having a power motor unit and a free floatingcutter unit pivoted thereon, the latter carrying a revolving cutterdriven from the shaft of the motor of said power unit, vacuum means forcollecting leaves, grass and other waste matter comprising a startingpulley with gear attached, secured to the fly wheel of the power motor,a gear on the outer end of the shaft of said vacuummeans meshing withsaid pulley gear and a suction fan on the opposite end of said shaft towhich is connected a vacuum nozzle by a flexible pipe connection andwhich nozzle is adapted to be suspended on the front of said cutter unitto collect said leaves, grass and other waste matter prior to thecutting operation.

3. In a power lawn mower having a power motor unit and a free floatingcutter unit pivoted thereon, the latter carrying a revolving cutterdriven from the shaft of the motor of said power unit, vacuum means forcollecting leaves, grass and other waste matter prior to thecuttingoperation comprising a starting pulley with gear attached,secured to the fly wheel of the power motor, a gear on the outer end ofthe shaft of said vacuum means meshing with said pulley gear and asuction fan on the opposite end of said shaft to which is connected avacuum nozzle by a flexible pipe connection and which nozzle is adaptedto be suspended on said mower in front of the cutter so as to remain ata uniform distance from the ground.

4. In a power lawn mower having a power motor unit and a free floatingcutter unit pivoted thereon, the latter carrying a revolving cutterdriven from the shaft of the motor of said power unit, vacuum means forcollecting leaves, grass and other waste matter comprising a startingpulley with gear attached, secured to the fly wheel of the power motor,a gear on the outer end of the shaft of said vacuum means meshing withsaid pulleygear and a suction fan on the opposite end of said shaft towhich is connected a vacuum nozzle by a flexible pipe connection andwhich nozzle is adapted to be suspended above the cutting knives of thecutter so as to suck up the grass as it is cut and in front of thecutter for collecting in advance of the mowing operation.

WALTER GEDNEY.

